User blog:Brady26/Son of Sarportan
Regrouping in Telinor Forest, Darion, Rack and a new warrior named Lukas seek advice on what to do next. Return to the Village Fleeing the Wyrmspeaker and his followers, Khez, Kadmos and Rack found their way back to the village of Selenkard in the early hours of the morning. Returning to Gal'in, the village warden who saw they were injured and invited them to rest in his home where a cackling raven watched them. A young druid, Sir'ya came and attempted to heal the worst of their injuries. A Soft Prison Darion brought Varram the White to Osana, the Gifted opening a door to their inner sanctum where they had placed a labyrinth for the prisoner to be questioned. Overseeing the transfer, Darion questions the strength of the magic bonds, expressing confusion over whether Varram the White was learned in magical arts, which he himself confirms. The labyrinth is a comfortable living space, which Varram seemed quite pleased with, though the Gifted Igdut claims he cannot be found by divination magic inside the room and he will be questioned in due time. Darion however questions the mages and expresses highly arrogant behaviour, the Gifted deciding to leave him in the sanctum crossroads as they departed. Spending what he believed was a few moments in the sanctum, another one of the Gifted came through, was startled by the presence of a ogrillon in armour in the middle of the crossroad. After briefly questioning him, the human Gifted departed through a door, which Darion followed, finding himself in a small shop which he immediately began to demand food from. After arguing with a shopkeeper for a while, Darion realised he was a knight of a holy order and carried a writ of the Council and should probably start acting like it. Managing to get a brief audience with a capranix, Flit, that he had met at the sanctum who agreed to transport him to Telinor Forest, the mage asking basic questions about where he needed to go that Darion struggled to answer. The young mage warning him that the magic was might not be exact if he was unsure where he was going, though Darion continued on heedless of the warnings, the spell hurling him into a tree before depositing him in the middle of Selenkard. A New Ally Rack and Khez filled in Darion on what had happened, and they elected to travel back to the cave and try to catch any fleeing cultists. Kadmos unfortunately was too injured to join them and he chose to remain behind to recover, whilst Khez has called away by the Enclave who required his presence elsewhere, though he was told that the Enclave had told a monster hunter of the dragon in the area and that he had gone to find the lair himself, and that perhaps he could aid them. Return to the Wyrmspeaker's Lair Rack and Darion travelled the forest, Rack leading the way past the spiders' den and the clearing where the fae entity had offered them a boon to protect them against the dragon, Rack filling in any details he left out before as best he could recall as they went. At the waterfall entrance they met a human warrior, Lukas Temper. They asked the man a few questions but decided that they should investigate the cave as soon as possible. After some arguing about how to get across the deep pond the group managed to get Darion across, Lukas seeing the large spike impaled in Darion's chest. Entering the cave the group saw that the elves that had been guarding the entrance had been left carved up on the small island in the cave pool. Approaching the pile, Lukas tried to identify how one of the elves was killed, but as he did a cloud of poisonous gas burst forth, causing him to vomit and choke on the disgusting fumes. Darion, unable to help, elected to criticise instead from the water's edge. Climbing up a short cliff face, Rack found a statue of an elven woman holding a bowl out, which Rack filled hoping for some sort of reward, when none came he searched for secret levers or entrances around the statue, only finding a non-secret door nearby. Kicking down the door he was greeted with a foul stench and the sounds of arguing. Darion picked up a few words in the language of giants, and Lukas thought on what he knew about giants, determining that it was likely one or more ettins. Approaching the ettins chamber, where three ettins sat atop piles of broken furniture and torn clothes being very protective of their worthless "stuff". Darion, hoping that these three insightful people could answer his questions, asked where the cultists had gone, a female ettin Grundagunga, answering that they did not care where they had gone or when, as long as they kept away from their stuff. Rack took a look around the room, seeing that most of the items in the piles were worthless, but noticed that the female ettin had a sash that appeared to resist the grime and filth of the room, a feature that many magic items he'd seen in the past had, though when they complemented her on the sash, she grew aggressive, telling them to keep away from her stuff. Deciding to leave the helpful ettins to their endless arguing, the group left the chamber and returned to the main pool. Exploring the remainder of the smaller caves, the group found where the cult had been staying, where they slept and stored their foodstuffs. Entering the room of the Wyrmspeaker, the group found that much of the furniture had been moved, and a tapestry had fallen on the ground revealing a passage on to another chamber. As Rack stepped into it they triggered a glyph trap, the poison gas it emitted burning their lungs. After falling victim to another trap, Lukas suggested they start keeping an eye out for them, though they would encounter no more in the caves. A Goodbye to Johann Entering the chamber where they had fought the green dragon, the group found the corpse of both the beast itself and of their ally Johann. Searching his body Rack found that the cultists had taken everything from him, and looking at the remaining pile of treasure, only a paltry sum of valuable currency remained. Deciding that the cultists had left the caves they went outside to cremate their fallen ally, Lukas gathering wood to make a pyre and Rack and Darion each giving their goodbyes. Pursuit in the Mist After a quiet moment where they burned the body of their friend, the group decided that they would pursue the Wyrmspeaker, Lukas managing to pick up their tracks, heading west towards the Quel'Doran border. Following the tracks for a few days the group realised that the cultists had grouped up with others and had pack animals or mounts carrying them. Finally the group saw the that they were heading straight to the sea and decided they would be impossible to catch. Setting up camp, Rack and Darion discussed what they should do next, with Lukas chiming in now and then with questions, amazed that they had fought and slain dragons, a dream of his. Deciding that they should go to Telinor, the group travelled south first to Selenkard to tell Kadmos what happened, there they found him surrounded by the many items he had once stored in the shared bag of holding, which he had torn apart. He too had been given new orders and would be waiting in Selenkard a while longer, the group wishing him the best as they set off to the College. Return to the City of the Sun At Orn tel Imen, the elven college of the arcane, the group requested a teleportation to Hoffendale, though Transmuter Ae'gol advised against it after asking them questions about why they wished to go there, claiming that the King of Hoffendale had wards placed protecting his cities from entrance by teleportation. Deciding that they were unsure of what to do next they changed their mind and travelled to the King's Wood in Grostere. There they chose to ignore Archnecromancer Ba'win and returned to Grostere City, where once again they were struck by the many demagogues and prophets shouting in the street, Lukas being particularly surprised at the change in the city. Finding the King they asked for guidance on what to do next, the king saying they were free to do whatever they wished, as they had completed the task the Council had set them. Lukas introduced himself, and the King touched him with his branded hand, seeming to look into him and know his intentions. He suggested that they should rest, return to Greenest and recuperate. Rack asked whether any news of the draakhorn had emerged, though the King had no good news to share, instead claiming that the Okarthel delegates had passed words on to him warning that accusations were being brought against Rack of murder, though that was all the King had been told. Rack was surprised and requested that the King give him any information on the issue later on. Presenting the current situations, Hoffendale was being raided by cultists, seemingly led by a red dragonborn and Schwarzmeer were unable to facilitate trade between the north and south due to attacks by a black dragon. Deciding they liked the sound of a dragonborn rather than who they believed to be Scaly Death, the group chose to go to Hoffendale. Though the King did not know where the attacks were, and Hoffendale claimed they needed no assistance with the matter he suggested they go to anyone they knew with such contacts. He also gave them permission to have their weapons empowered by the Institute of Truth, a prospect Lukas was eager to make use of. There they met with Barra who told them the Amulet of Health he had been gifted was in the barrel in Greenest. As they waited for the rituals to be cast upon their weapons, the group partook in some of the activities in the city, going to a theatre where they encountered Jamna Gleamsilver, who they took drinking, Lukas making some friends among the cast of the theatre that Jamna worked with. An Unbidden Lord In the West Wing the group ventured to Remallia Haventree's room, hoping to get some advice on where the raiders in Hoffendale were last. Inside however, they found a tall human man instead, who introduced himself as Duke Gurdrak of Drakkenperch, who was taking over from Remallia. Darion telling him that they should have trained their agents better, which Gurdrak agreed with. He knew that the last attack had taken place in a village in the Halflands, Renebach, the group deciding to head there next to find clues. Concerning Halflings Travelling to the King's Wood, the group requested transportation from the druids of the Enclave, a halfling druid appearing to carry out the act, Darion deciding to name him Sycamore. Transporting them through an oak tree to an underground grove, the halfling druid giving them vague directions to the village. Keeping an eye out, Lukas stumbled into a few hills that appeared to have been hollowed out and filled with furniture, a young halfling playing a lute nearby. Asking the young man, Bodo, about the village the youth pointed to a hill that had been torn into, calling it the house of "Old Mr Abus". Investigating the building Lukas found that the living room and bedroom had been ransacked. Going deeper into the village, they group met Gisguise, an elder in the village that claimed the raiders were using a nearby ruin to launch their raids, but nobody believed her when she requested aid. Deciding to go there, the group set off. Ascent to Darkness It was nightfall when the group arrived at the ruins which stood on an outcrop of rock, rack choosing to go ahead as Darion and Lukas approached on Sal. As Rack ascended some carved steps, Darion and Lukas came under attack from unseen attackers above them, the night sky obscuring the assailants. Rack waited at the top of the steps, trying to see into the ruins as Darion and Lukas emerged behind him. As they moved forward the group came under attack from wyvern mounted cultists and cultists lurking in the ruins. The wyverns and their riders managed to out maneuverer the group and Lukas fell unconscious, Rack and Darion fending off the rest as they revived their ally and struck back against the cultist. Darion summoning the spirits of the Hallowed Assault, who manifested in a terrified band of screaming and terrified warriors that hacked and slashed at the cultists, tearing them apart in their terror. Rack leaping on one that tried to flee atop the wyvern, which Lukas slew as the beast thrashed around. Tying up the cultist, the group set up in the ruins to catch their breaths. As they waited, a second group of cultists emerged and once again Darion summoned the Hallowed Assault, though a cultist fled into the chambers below from whence they came. After slaying the cultists, the group drank of the potions they had obtained from the Institute of Truth and ventured down into the raider's lair. Fire and Shadow Sprinting ahead Rack heard voices below, barely audible with the screams of terror from the Hallowed Assault that still followed them. As the three of them entered a lit chamber below they saw a dragonspawn of some kind sitting on a broken stone dais, three armoured cultists and one of the party that had interrupted their rest. The dragonspawn rose, claiming that they stood before a Son of Sarportan, raising his hand and causing hellish flames to wreath the cultists in the chamber, who charged the group. The cultists were empowered by their master and managed to inflict serious damage on the group before falling, when the Son of Sarportan entered the fray. Lukas and Darion both fell to the monster's attacks, and as Rack attempted a hit and run tactic, Darion rose up, warning his companion that the beast was laying a trap for him. Darion stood rushed the beast and pinned him against the wall, striking him down with his flail, the Son of Sarportan vanishing into fire and smoke as he was vanquished. Category:Blog posts